Ativan News

Below are Ativan (Lorazepam) reviews, ratings, comments submitted by patients and caregivers. Based on a total of 17 ratings/reviews, Ativan has an overall score of 6. The effectiveness score is 8.24 and the side effect score is 6.59. The scores are on ten point scale: 10 - best, 1 - worst. This information is not vetted and should not be cosidered as clinical evidence.

Ativan review by 37 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Highly Effective

Side effects:

No Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

Anxiety

Dosage & duration:

2mg taken as needed for the period of as needed

Other conditions:

N/A

Other drugs taken:

None

Reported Results

Benefits:

It really help me to cope with the anxiety

Side effects:

Make you tired.

Comments:

Had to take one when not feeling good. Or if anxiety issue to go to the doctor, take one, one hour prior apt

Ativan review by 30 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Highly Effective

Side effects:

Severe Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

anxiety

Dosage & duration:

1mg at night taken once a day for the period of one weeks

Other conditions:

None

Other drugs taken:

None

Reported Results

Benefits:

It helped relieve anxiety because it made me sleep. I found that prior to taking this medication, I could not sleep and that I was not eating properly. My overall health was suffering.

Side effects:

It made me so sleepy and sluggish that I could not function properly the next day. While it did resolve sleep issues, it led to many other issues.

Comments:

moderate anxiety.

Ativan review by 43 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Highly Effective

Side effects:

Moderate Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

alcohol withdrawal

Dosage & duration:

.5 mg taken 2x per day for the period of 6 days

Other conditions:

none

Other drugs taken:

none

Reported Results

Benefits:

The medicine alleviated physical symptoms of withdrawal from use of alcohol and significantly decreased anxiety.

Side effects:

The drug created the same cognitive issues and coordination problems as alcohol. Taking it was like having a few glasses of wine. Driving would have been dangerous.

Comments:

The medicine was prescribed upon hospital discharge. Dosage was decreased every two days over six day period.

Ativan review by 48 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Considerably Effective

Side effects:

Mild Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

Insomnia

Dosage & duration:

1 mg. taken 1x before bedtime, as needed for sleep for the period of still take it as needed

Other conditions:

worry, anxiety before bedtime

Other drugs taken:

none

Reported Results

Benefits:

I have had problems falling asleep for many years. I had tried various other medicines, both over the counter and prescription, and nothing seemed to work - some didn't work at all, some helped me initially fall asleep but woke me up in the middle of the night, and others made me tired and feeling as if I were drugged the next morning. Then one day, my dentist prescribed one Ativan to take before bedtime the night before an extraction, and I actually fell asleep standing up! This is the first sleep medication that helps me initially fall asleep, sleep through the night, and doesn't make me feel tired the next day. Plus, it has the added benefit of helping to reduce my worry, anxiety, and stress that had always kept me from falling asleep before.

Side effects:

One of the warnings on the bottle is "May cause drowsiness". Well, that's why I am taking it! If you don't want to feel drowsy, then Ativan is probably not for you. Another drawback is that if it is used too often, your body will get used to it and you may have to bump up your dose. When I first began taking Ativan, I only needed half a mg. to fall asleep, so I would cut a tablet in half. I only use it 3 or 4 times a month, but even at that dosage, after having used it for several years, I now find I have to take a whole tablet in order for the Ativan to help me sleep.

Comments:

After having this prescribed to me by my dentist, I knew it was very effective. I'd tried various other medications prescribed by my doctor to help me sleep, so I told him I'd like to try Ativans as they had worked so well as a relaxant before a dental extraction. We worked together to come up with a dosage, and he then prescribed the 1mg. As stated before, the one mg. was more than enough at first, so I would cut the tablets in half and for the first couple years this worked just fine. For the past couple years though, I've had to use the 1mg. before bedtime... and will probably have to talk with my doctor soon about going to a stronger dosage as I am noticing lately that it is not working as well as it once did.

Ativan review by 56 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Highly Effective

Side effects:

Mild Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

Inability to fall asleep

Dosage & duration:

.05mg. taken once at pm for the period of 5 years

Other conditions:

Depression

Other drugs taken:

Effexor XR, Warfarin

Reported Results

Benefits:

I was able to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Side effects:

None, until recently. I began having severe anxiety/panic attacks. I stopped the Lorazepam in order to determine the culprit, if any. No panic attacks since stopping the drug. Seems strange since this is the drug of choice for panic attacks.

Comments:

Lorazepam was prescribed inability to fall asleep. Also, if needed during the day for anxiety. I never took it during the day for anxiety, only at night to aid in sleep. I have stopped taking it and have not had a panic attack in 2 days.

Ativan review by 22 year old male patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Considerably Effective

Side effects:

No Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

sleep disorder/anxiety

Dosage & duration:

1 milligram (dosage frequency: twice a day) for the period of 1 year

Other conditions:

not many

Other drugs taken:

cymbalta

Reported Results

Benefits:

well, the main treatment benefit was that it did help me go to sleep faster, even better than the melatonin that I was taking before i went to bed. Another benefit of taking this prescription drug was that it helped me with my anxiety. I have considerably much less anxiety than I did before taking this.

Side effects:

there were no side effects.

Comments:

1-2, 1 milligram pills per day as needed.

Ativan review by care giver of 43 year old male patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Moderately Effective

Side effects:

Severe Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

sleep problem

Dosage & duration:

1mg taken 4-5nights per week for the period of 1year

Other conditions:

dvt of leg

Other drugs taken:

syntrom

Reported Results

Benefits:

At first, could actually sleep. The sleep issue has been life long and various natural things helped but not always. As stress increased, nothing helped,not even the Ativan.

Side effects:

Loss of energy. Huge increase in anger and irritability over seemingly non-issues. Personality changes to being more depressed and pessimistic. World view was negative, and everyone was an 'asshole'. Did not want to do anything or try anything or go out. Not even things normally that were turn ons ie. movies, dancing, sex, food
After 6-8months on the drug, it helped not at all and sleep was down to 1-2 hours per nite.

Comments:

Very simple, just take drug at night before bed. Doctor prescribed for no more thatn 3 nights per week, but as sleep deprivation increased, so did the taking of the Ativan. Sublingual helped better than pill. Took drug up to 5 nights per week.
Ran out of Ativan at some point and realized after a 3-4 days that was sleeping better and felt better mentally, emotionally and physically. Realized that the drug had severely affected his personality and motivation. sex drive and pleasure increased with each week off the Ativan. Swore to never use it again because the difference in how he felt was like night and day, once he got off the pills.

Ativan review by 46 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Highly Effective

Side effects:

Moderate Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

anxiety

Dosage & duration:

1 mg taken 5 times a day for the period of 5 years

Other conditions:

none

Other drugs taken:

none

Reported Results

Benefits:

it makes me not nervous and i think it helps with depression also

Side effects:

tired and now totally can't get off of it. sometimes i have a tremor in my head moving and i wonder if it's because of the drug. also when you are on it for a long period of time lets say 2 or 3 years then your body gets used to it so now it's doing nothing and you need to double the dose. thats when it gets bad

Comments:

take 1 mg 5 times a day

Ativan review by 45 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Marginally Effective

Side effects:

Severe Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

Ease breathing/fast heart rate

Dosage & duration:

1 mg per day taken 1 day for the period of 10 days

Other conditions:

None

Other drugs taken:

None

Reported Results

Benefits:

I was a post cardiac ablation patient with breathing difficulty from reactive airway disease (RADS) and a fast heart rate. Docs prescribed Ativan 1 mg per day to ease breathing. It did help ease feelings of suffocation.

Side effects:

Tried to stop taking 1 mg of Ativan per day after 10 days and had horrible withdrawal symptoms including blurred vision, shakiness, weakness, heightened sense of smell, nausea. Sick as a dog. Had to go to a rehab specialist to get weaned off.

Comments:

Treatment to get off Ativan was to take .25 off per week for several weeks.

Ativan review by 61 year old male patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Highly Effective

Side effects:

Severe Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

nerves

Dosage & duration:

2.5 (dosage frequency: 1-3times a day) for the period of 34-years

Other conditions:

none

Other drugs taken:

none at the time of taking ativan

Reported Results

Benefits:

they were like a magic tablet

Side effects:

none at the begining but now i am house-bound with phobias also deppression i do not see any one or talk to people only my old mate

Comments:

i was taking 2.5mg for many years and then i went onto 1mg 3-times daily and after 34years i am still taking them

Ativan review by 54 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Highly Effective

Side effects:

Mild Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

Anxiety

Dosage & duration:

1 mg taken once a day for the period of 30 days

Other conditions:

Depression

Other drugs taken:

Wellbutrin

Reported Results

Benefits:

Calm me down, helped me sleep, did not wake up a lot during the night, able to handle stressfull situations. This has be great taking at this time in my life, my dad died three years ago, my brother passed in October of 09 and my mom just moved in with me. I found that my antidepression pills were helping but sometime I just felt like I was going to jump out of my skin and take someone with me. This just took the edge off of everything and made things much easier to handle.

Side effects:

tired, sleepy, dry mouth, sometimes diarreha, not much of an appetite.

Comments:

Take 1 Tablet by mouth twice a day as needed for anxiety

Ativan review by 34 year old male patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Ineffective

Side effects:

No Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

Anxiety

Dosage & duration:

1mg taken 3x's/day for the period of 1 week

Other conditions:

None

Other drugs taken:

None

Reported Results

Benefits:

Absolutely none. My original dr. prescribed me Xanax, which, for me, is a life-saver. New dr. wouldn't put me on it, so I got Klonopin instead,(1mg, 3x's/day). After Klonopin made me sleepy, I asked for the only other bz he was willing to prescribe,(Ativan),and w/in one week was going through massive w/drawals from the lack of potency of the drug. So, back on Klonopin and the problems went away like that. May as well have been a sugar pill. Needless to say, I found a dr. to prescribe Xanax, and have had no problems since.

Side effects:

Absolutely none.

Comments:

Read above.

Ativan review by 32 year old male patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Considerably Effective

Side effects:

Moderate Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

Insomnia

Dosage & duration:

1mg before bed taken 1 x day for the period of 10 days

Other conditions:

Depression/ Anxiety

Other drugs taken:

n/a

Reported Results

Benefits:

Drug was effective in helping the me the sleep I needed. Did its job flawlessly.

Side effects:

Aside from the usual drowsiness, I had a hangover feeling in the morning and as a result took the pill 2 hours before bed which resolved it. The warning label states sex drive may lessen, but with me it increased, quite dramtically actually. Usually one would consider increased sex drive a being good, but with me it was becomming disruptive to my life and the reason why I stopped taking it. I still give it high praise as it relieved my anxiety very effectively.

Comments:

Do not want to disclose

Ativan review by 67 year old male patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Moderately Effective

Side effects:

Extremely Severe Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

Anxiety from a reaction

Dosage & duration:

.o5 3 x daily as needed (dosage frequency: 3 x daily) for the period of 10 months then I found out

Other conditions:

None docs looking for cancer... None!

Other drugs taken:

None

Reported Results

Benefits:

Became addictive .. Docs never told anything that it should only be used very short term, less then two weeks! The then become addictive. Not only that, the told me nothing of side affects, nor tolerance withdrawals, nor, you need to withdraw slowly. These are very dangerous drugs, you my think it helps, but you will pay he'll being on any benzodizapines. If you don,t believe this, go towww.benzo.org read dr (prof) ashton,s Manuel. You will suffer the depth of he'll if you don,t get off these. .

Side effects:

Read the above, no info..

Comments:

No comment.

Ativan review by 68 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Highly Effective

Side effects:

Severe Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

unable to sleep because of pain

Dosage & duration:

1 mg. taken at bedtime for the period of now is is 4 months

Other conditions:

facial nerve pain

Other drugs taken:

Elavil

Reported Results

Benefits:

helped me sleep well

Side effects:

upset stomach, drugged feeling all day which causes depression

Comments:

given l mg of Ativan four months ago with 2 mg delaudid. I quit the delaudid cold turkey. Tried Gabapentin for pain, made me suicidal, then given Elavil which seems to help for pain, Am now on 10 mg of Elavil and l mg of Ativan. Very upset stomach all the time. Wish the doctor had warned me of Ativan side effects. I may have been okay with just Elavil had I understood the drugs at the time. Want desperately to get of Ativan but can't sleep without it.

Ativan review by 13 year old male patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Highly Effective

Side effects:

Mild Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

EXTREMELY SEVERE ANXIETY

Dosage & duration:

0.5 mg to start of at taken about 2 times a day for the period of just started

Other conditions:

Tourette's Syndrome

Other drugs taken:

Abilify, medidate, strattera

Reported Results

Benefits:

ALL my anxiety, stress, were gone. I also have Tourette's Syndrome, which is a neurological disorder which causes me to have involentary movements and sounds that I have no controll over, (tics.) And once I started taking this medicine, the tics were such at the minimum, i used to have 50-100 tics a day, now i have 3-4 tics all because of Lorazepam. This might be a very good treatment for others with Tourette's Syndrome!!

Side effects:

I feel very tired and i have a hard time focusing in class. But I think once i start getting used to this medication the focusing will come back.

Comments:

I have been suffering from anxiety for such a long time. I felt as if my life was not living for anymore, but once i started this medicine, everything changed. Even though this is the first day i am taking it, it has done a great and good impact on me today, 4-26-11.

Ativan review by 40 year old female patient

Rating

Overall rating:

Effectiveness:

Considerably Effective

Side effects:

No Side Effects

Treatment Info

Condition / reason:

Anxiety

Dosage & duration:

1mg taken once daily before bed for the period of 3 months

Other conditions:

None

Other drugs taken:

None

Reported Results

Benefits:

Assists with getting to sleep and due to longer half life than other anxiolytics(ie Alprazolam)anxiety is less upon waking. Whilst Alprazolam is extrememly effective for immediate reduction in arousal, I find Lorazepam more effective for overall lowering of anxiety.It has been especially helpful to start the day with little or no anxiety rather than with a high arousal level immediately needing management or medication.

Side effects:

As with all Benzodiazepines withdrawl is very noticeable if undertaken quickly. Lightheadedness, anxiety, dizzy spells, general feeling unwell.
In my experience the suggested half life in relation to reducing intake of these drugs is very misleading. Reduction for me has to be done very slowly over a number of weeks not days as usually suggested by physicians.

Comments:

Taken for anxiety,initially in an acute stage. This was followed by a decision by patient (myself) to continue for 3 months in order to reduce arousal levels whilst undertaking therapy using the theraputic model ACT.